Across Africa, 85% of retail medicine purchases happen at micro-enterprises, typically neighbourhood pharmacies and Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs). For store owners, 90% of their wholesale purchases happen in open markets that are largely unfit for consumables and medicines.
Store owners also have to endure expensive and time-consuming weekly order cycles that typically amount to two working days to access the inventory they need to stock their shelves. These realities, combined with a predominantly paper-based approach to managing operations, present various challenges that make it difficult to maximise profitability.
Nigerian startup Remedial Health operates at the intersection of healthcare, supply chain management, technology, and financial services, delivering the digital procurement infrastructure to power effective healthcare distribution for Africa’s 1.2 million pharmacies.
Snaps $12M funding
Remedial Health has received $12 million in an equity and debt funding round to deepen the penetration of its services in Nigeria and support the delivery of targeted financial services to drive business growth across the country’s pharmaceutical sector.
This includes a $8 million Series A equity funding round led by US-based venture capital firm QED Investors (which backed Carmoola and Rest Less) and co-led by Ventures Platform, who have now invested in Remedial Health at every funding round since the pre-seed stage of $4.4 million. This investment also represents Ventures Platform’s first Series A investment. Ycombinator, Tencent, and Gaingels also invested after participating in previous rounds. Also, it includes a $4 million debt funding led by a consortium of local and international financial institutions.
This new funding will enable Remedial Health to deepen the reach of these services across Nigeria and deliver more game-changing solutions to drive greater efficiency across the pharmaceutical value chain.
According to Samuel Okwuada, CEO and co-founder of Remedial Health said, “We are delighted to have raised these funds, particularly with the wider context of the global funding downturn and the wide range of economic headwinds in Nigeria. Our continued growth has put us in a strong position to deliver our mission of creating a tech-enabled, pharmacy-centred healthcare network and we are looking forward to leveraging these funds to achieve more success.”
Gbenga Ajayi, Partner, Head of Africa, QED Investors, said “QED is particularly excited about the embedded financial services opportunities within the vertical — the ability to provide payments, embedded lending and other fintech solutions to this underserved but very crucial sector. The Remedial Health team is perfectly positioned to solve this problem because of its unique positioning as a partner across the entire pharmaceutical value chain and the unique backgrounds of the founders as both seasoned pharma operators and technology professionals. We are very excited to be on this journey and to support this next phase of the company and to bring our fintech DNA to bear in what is an already positive growth journey.”
Kola Aina, Founding Partner of Ventures Platform, added “We are incredibly proud to have been part of Remedial Health’s journey since the earliest phase of the company’s development. This partnership exemplifies our mission to support category leaders before they become obvious. Remedial Health’s dedication to improving Nigeria’s pharmaceutical value chain is critical and their success in securing this $12 million funding demonstrates their remarkable growth and the management’s tenacity over the years. Our investment in this round represents our continued belief in their mission to deliver financial services to neighbourhood pharmacies and drive deeper growth in the pharmaceutical sector.”
Digitises the African pharmaceutical industry
Remedial Health was founded by Samuel Okwuada and Victor Benjamin in 2021 in Nigeria. The healthtech delivers technology solutions that enable greater efficiency and profitability in Africa’s pharmaceutical sector. It also supports the development of a tech-enabled, pharmacy-centered healthcare network across the continent.
Store owners can access more than 8,000 vetted products via the mobile app, with same-day delivery and inventory financing to minimise cash-flow friction for routine orders and maximise sales opportunities. The startup also provides facility financing, payment solutions, and inventory management solutions that make it easier for store owners to run their business more efficiently and profitably. For pharmaceutical manufacturers, Remedial Health provides an effective route-to-market for their products, as well as data-driven insights into local markets that can be leveraged for more effective planning and decision-making.
Remedial Health has built an effective operating system for pharmaceutical buyers and suppliers, working with over 300 manufacturers and serving over 5,000 hospitals, pharmacies and PPMVs across 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states, with regional hubs to enable a seamless experience across the country.
